Making It on My Own

Life for Shay Johnson was a party. She was doing her thing- young, black, gifted, working part-time, going to college and making do in a small apartment in Buffalo, NY. She was on top of her game, and there was nothing you could tell her, she was it! Shay had everything under control until she met Chico, a suave, handsome Spanish gentleman that swept her off her feet and took her heart. It wasn't too long before Shay was completely under his spell.Everything was going great until Chico's past comes to disrupt their paradise. As quick as Shay rose to love, she fell hard and fast leaving her at her lowest. Finding herself in the street with no way to feed her son and a baby on a way, Shay now has some hard decisions to make.Good friends are hard to come by, and Huey is her prince charming in disguise ready to take her away from life's harsh reality. What happens when Shay finds love in an unexpected place? Will she continue to deny herself a chance to love again because of the drama she went through with Chico, or will she open up to a chance at starting over? The struggle of a young girl finding her way to womanhood, and the sacrifices you take to get there are all on the pages of Making It On My Own...because at the end of the day you can only truly depend on yourself. *Winner of the Writer’s Inn Top Ten Books of 2007 for Best Plot/StorylineMarlene is an author that is going somewhere! She has an exceptional flair for molding together characters that are so realistic in their dialect as well as actions. From the very first page, you are drawn into the plot and won’t be able to stop reading until the last line is read. You will literally get papercuts flipping through the pages of Making It On My Own.Marlene did an honorary job in depicting the way a fairytale romance with your Prince Charming can go wrong. When Shay Johnson’s boyfriend, Chico, leaves her pregnant and with a small child, she has no choice but to make it on her own. Through many trials and tribulations and even having to set aside pride and move into a shelter…In this compelling novel, Marlene is sure to take you on an unforgettable journey as you follow the life of Shay, grasping a real feel for what it’s really like when you have no one to depend on but yourself.MAKING IT ON MY OWN is a realistic story of love, survival and determination. Marlene leaves nothing to the imagination when it comes to the daily struggles of a young woman and her quest to survive. The lessons of survival were forceful in this fast paced, action-packed drama. I was drawn into the emotional world of Shay and her problems. This book is an excellent read…~The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers